This time I performed as Frequency Freaks, a DS-10 unit of two:
Gospely and CardiacTrance. We've been working so hard for this show.
Gospely spent several nights at my place recording and practicing.
It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot of new stuff throughout working with him.

KORG DS-10 EXPO2009 was held at "Club axxcis" in Shibuya.
It was the same place for EXPO2008 as well as "KORG DS-10's 1st Birthday Party."
Unlike the last time I came here, it was pretty cold. The club looked exactly the same,
and welcomed us. Everything started from here, for a lot of DS-10 players.

Soon after we got in the club, we went through so many "nice to see you again" and "nice to meet you."
I met some of the DS-10 users I haven't seen since the summer at the DS-10's 1st birthday party,
like Yakan and Kowaoto. I was so happy to see them again. They live in Kansai area, so
we don't see each other often.

When I went into the backstage, it was a lunch time so everybody was munching on something.
Vanovat, Kowaoto and others brought some local snacks for all of us.
I greeted Suttoko-Dokkoy. He was going to VJ for Frequency Freaks' performance. I've been
contacting him and sending animation movies and the Frequency Freaks logo for him to
use in his VJ performance. Well, my real job is a freelance graphic designer and animator.

After everybody went through the sound testing, the show started shortly.

Sano and Mr.Okamiya showed up on the stage with their new DS-10 costume which looked
pretty much like a Japanese ceramic artist or something. I thought it was pretty hot, and I really
wanted the towel with a DS-10 logo that they were wearing on their heads so bad.

DG-10 did not come this time so the floor was not hot and steamy. Instead, there was the
Korg booth by the entrance where people could play with some newer Korg products like
Wavedrum and Kaossilator.

--I'll briefly introduce the each performances chronologically.

Frequency Freaks

Photo by Mather

Yes! It's us!!
Performing at first means we could get drunk early and would not have to be
shaking nervously in the backstage once after we were done!!

Our first number was "Sound Stream" composed by Gospely.
It is very cheerful and up-tempo techno-pop tune. It gets pretty wild in the
middle part when we become "Kaoss Pad Guitarist" and "Kaoss Pad Keyboardist."
We acted like we were actually playing instruments and having sessions.
It was really a nice song for the opening of the entire show.

Our second number was "If This Song Reaches You."
I did most of the track and Gospely was the singer(!) and the solo keyboardist.
It's a slow R&B sounding song featuring super-cheesy Japanese lyrics.
This time I acted as a DJ making the vinyl scratching noise with DS-10.

Our last song was "Taiko Stylus" composed by CardiacTrance.
It's a trance-like techno song with lots of transitions. It features traditional
Japanese festival instruments, like Taiko and the bamboo flute, all simulated
on DS-10. We stopped the sequencer for a moment, and played beats by hands, like
as we were actually doing Taiko performances. There was a part we did small silly dances!

We were sweating after we were done, because of lots of movement and excitement.
Suttoko-Dokkoy did the greatest job making our performances really exciting! People liked his VJ a lot!

Watanabe

Photo by Mather

Our picnic hero Watanabe on stage!! He used be a DJ so his style is very DJ-like. Now he
is a "DS-10 Jockey" though. He played techno songs with pumping beats and exciting synth
sound, which made all of us dance!

Akane Hosaka
Her style is very original. She plays the old Casio mini keyboards and other sequencers
for beats and funny sound effects. It kinda sounds like chip-tune but not exactly. It is very
peaceful and somewhat cute. This time she used DS-10 and her mini keyboards.

Simonger Mobile

Photo by Mather

He is very original as well. He wears crazy costumes and a funny looking wig, and sings
really weird song with the funk beats. For this event, he dressed up in old disco-looking
yellow suit. He sat on the chair, started to play, then stopped immediately.

"Woops I did something wrong! Sorry!"

He's been a musician for a long time. He knows what to do when things go wrong.
He said couple of funny stuff and made everybody laugh. Then he started again.
His performance was crazy and funny as heck, but was also absolutely cool.
He has a great voice too. I became a fan of him immediately.

Koishistyle
Nothing much to explain about him anymore. He is a well-known pro musician!
He writes songs for Children's TV shows and theater performances.
This time he came up with a fine house tune with complex chord structures.
I have no idea how he made a song that complicated on DS-10.

Keishi Yonao

Photo by Mather

He is a pro as well. You all already know him, right? He writes songs
for a lot of video games. He was not feeling well today and his hair was all messy
making him look like a crazy musician or mad scientist. However, his sound was really
cool as usual-- very rich sound in higher frequencies (which makes his songs sound "shiny" to me),
and sophisticated tone making techniques.

Denkitribe

Photo by Mather

Well I'm not gonna explain about him either. Just go to YouTube and type denkitribe and you'll see.
He showed up on the stage with a hand-made talking-modulator which he hooked his DS-10 up.
There was a hose sticking out of a small plastic bottle and he put that in his mouth. He was
worried that microphone would not pickup the sound, but there was no problem. It sounded
really awesome. I always like his sound making. Every single tones he creates are so warm and rich.
I had no idea how he could make the jazzy bass sound on DS-10.

Otona no Kagaku Magazine
They advertised the book they were about to publish. The book is called "The Perfect Guide for
the DS-10 Sound Making." There are 100+ different DS-10 patches, like drum sounds, synth leads,
vocal simulations, basses, and even sound effects that are made by the professionals and leading
DS-10 users in Japan. (6 patches I made are on this book. Yay! )
More info:http://www.ds10blog.jp/?p=1600

Mr.Kanamori from KORG
He played "Polyrhythm," from the famous techno pop idol group "Perfume."
Amazingly, he made DS-10+ sang the whole vocal part by emulating the human voice formant.
When I heard it for the first time, I was like WTF??? and my friend thought DS-10 was a sampler
or something. I looked at his settings later and it was just insane.

Wakakusa Record

This is the unit of several people including a VJ. They play minimal techno music with tight and
heavy beats, and trippy synth patterns. You can purchase their songs on iTunes.

For this show, they started out with a crazy cartoon show on the screen, about Macdonalds.
It was quite twisted. Then 2 guys and 1 lady came up on the stage and started to perform. They had
a DJ mixer in front so they could mix several songs from each member's DS-10s. I swore I could
get hign on their sound. It was totally like an underground techno club party. I danced like crazy
and wished I could hear them play for over an hour, not just 20 minutes.

RangChang

Photo by Mather

He is a nice looking young guy with the tail-looking hairstyle.
This was the first time I actually saw him. I had known him already over the internet.
He played a cheerful sounding trance music. It was a nice transition after Wakakusa Record's
crazy-dope-acid beats. He also came up with a popular song on Nikoniko Douga.

natto21
He is the ambient king, and the biggest YMO fan in the DS-10 world. The DS-10 version
of Rydeen on DS-10+ Limited Edition demo was actually made by him.

For this show, he played Technopolis, also was a famous number by YMO.
Then he played "Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence." I've heard him play this song several
times and it always made me cry. Every single sound he makes are beautiful.

Kowaoto

Photo by Mather

When he showed up on the stage, everybody on the floor started to call his name.
The show turned into the chaotic craze. The whole building started to shake (it did, really.
One of the engineers said they had some sort of vibration related problem on their
video system.), several people including me started banging their heads,
Watanabe sticked on the speaker like a magnet, and there were a bunch of people
lined up jumping around and marching through the floor.

The sound stopped all the sudden and everybody was like "WTF?"
Kowaoto just said politely, "This is it."

Yakan
If you are a rock fan, or if you love distorted guitar sound, check his songs out.
He is an amazing DS-10 rock star. He did the DS-10 version of "Ghostbusters" on DG-10's
"Gold Synthesizer" album.

His stuff did not sound like something coming from a Nintendo DS. It was overwhelmingly rich.
How did he do that?? It was fantastic, and I liked watching him dancing on the stage, because
he looked so happy, and totally enjoying to be there.

mryat
He is quite famous online with his Korg Electribe. And he is a great DS-10 player as well.
I like his heavy-tight bass drums and distorted synth leads. His works are always
very wild and energetic. For this show, he emulated the side-chain compressor using DS-10.
It gives the distinctive pumping effect to the bass sound. I loved it.

L-eye

Photo by Mather

He was being such an entertainer. He showed up on his stage with his face
half covered with the black hoodie, made him look like a gang star or a drug dealer. During his
performance, he had his cell phone beside the DS, and he posted a message on Twitter saying
"I'm performing on the stage, right now." It was so funny.

His style was really original. He tweaked the sound real time using the delay effect and other
techniques to create various type of transitions. It actually sounded like a techno DJ mixing
songs on turntables. We were all so surprised that he had only 3 patterns programmed beforehand.

The show came to the end, and we moved to the bar to celebrate.
I got to talk to a lot of DS-10 users and engineers from Korg. I had absolutely great time there.

Gospely and I gave Sano a birth certificate booklet for his newborn babies (DS-10 and DS-10+)
between him and his wife (Korg MS-20).